Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Psalm 66:1-9
66:1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip. (ESV)
by Leanne Lippincott
I grew up in a very conservative Sunday-keeping church. The songs we sang during the worship service were old standards from our hymnal, many with beautiful melodies and lyrics—like “Beautiful Savior” and “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” But some of the hymns were more like dirges. In this Psalm, David tells how we should shout with joy to God; we should “make his praise glorious” (v. 1).
I’ve had trouble accepting some of the newer praise music in worship services. (If someone had walked into the church of my youth with a guitar or drums, my pastor would have had a coronary on the spot.) Slowly, I’m “lightening up.” A few of the songs our church young people sing have even become favorites. We need to remember that “from-the-heart singing” should be a vital aspect of worship. That doesn’t necessarily mean we should scream or shout, but we certainly shouldn’t be afraid to clap or sing with vigor as the Spirit leads us.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
